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Internet Addiction and Children

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by jamesrl

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http://www.thestar.com/article/523702

Recent case in Ontario of a child, clearly addicted to Call of Duty 4 (which I have played extensively), who ran away from home when his father took away his ability to play (after multiple attempts). The child ran away and is still missing days later. His bike has been found but no sign of him.

This is one of the reasons I only have one computer in my house, its easier to monitor. If I do get a second computer, it will be in an open area, not in a kids room, so that I can make sure its only being used at approved times (and only after homework is done).

The other bizarre twist on the story, is that earlier reports theorized that a paedophile might have lured the boy to meet. As someone with experience in first person shooting games, I'd say while its possible, its probably not likely. First off, the Paed would have to buy the game and learn how to play, which takes more time and energy than simply trolling chat groups. Secondly he would have to understand that users on online games like Call of Duty and Battlefield are tracked by their CD codes and their IP addresses are recorded when they log onto servers. Communications between players are recorded as well. It is also not a condusive environment - people using first person shooters tend not to be too chatty. As a server admin, I would see anything like that going on, access the recording of it and send it along to authorities pretty quick.

James

22 replies

by tink!

I hope he's found soon, and still ok!

I keep tabs on what my kids do. The rule is: mom and dad have the right to check their emails, chats, etc etc at anytime, without notice. The girls belong to a few different online game/social sites. So far they're all geared to the younger kids.

I warn them about what they might stumble upon in Youtube as well since I know they go there to watch cartoons and music videos. I peek in now and then just to see what they're watching. (Besides - some stuff they watch is kind of cool and catches mommy's eye too. :) Tokyo Mew Mew is a riot!)

And of course their homework must be done first.

I know I've been lucky. The kids get bored with the stuff online enough to go do something else. They don't play the war games or other similar genre. And so far, the only ones with "online addictions" are mom and dad. LOL. But we do take care of our kids and do stuff with them too.

by jamesrl

This kid has now been gone for over two weeks, and the police have gone to Microsoft to get help tracking down the users this kid played with.

Microsoft have also dontaed money for to double the reward, and that promoted many to join the search this weekend. No trace was found though.

James

by cmiller5400

It is sad that the kid ran away. I pray that they find him safe and sound. The kid needs counseling if he ran away because the parents took the game away.

Just look at the "Grand Theft Auto" series... You should have to get a special permit to buy that crap, or better yet just ban it outright. It promotes violence. Period, end of story. There is NO GOOD that can come from that game. I will say that I have watched it being played and even played it myself, but it was for a very short time and I found no point in the game than being able to break the law in a virtual world.

by jdclyde

unfortunately they slap that same rating on MANY of the games, so parents don't pay attention to it anymore. HALO is in the same category, for cripes sake, as parental advisory.

I do not ALLOW any games into my house that glamorize being a scumbag, and do not understand people that find pretending they are a scumbag is somehow fun.

Life would be so much easier for me if I could just lose all standards in life....

by jdclyde

While chat and IP's are logged, a lot of the packages allow for chatting with a headset. Are these recorded as well? I would think not, but would help a lot in a case like this.

The thing about a case like this over just regular chat, it gives a ready-made commonality, love for the game, to start building a bond. Play up to teens confused ideas of "fair" and what they mistakenly think is their "right to privacy".

Hope he turns up safe. Also hope he learns a lesson out of this, that running away from your problems only delays them, but doesn't resolve them.

by ---tk---

For PC games there are: TeamSpeak2 and Vent... Both servers support VOIP and are free for the general public to host their own servers... I personally use TeamSpeak2 server... And if I want to turn on logging I can... however I don't cause, I know there is no foul play going on... Its all User name and password protected, and one login per user is allowed. I also control user names.

I highly doubt that the kid meet someone in the game... Cause I have been playing BF2 and COD4 for quite some time, and theres nothing more annoying than someone that chats up the server/ squad... And If I ever heard something weird like that I would report their ass, real quick...

However I have no idea what they use for Xbox... for VOIP.

by jamesrl

I kick any spammers off if they refuse to shut up. Many of the ones I've kicked for that are 13 year old types.

We use vent, but our game also has Voip, so I hear both clanmates on Vent and squadmates on voip.

James

by cupcake

I have a 13 year old son who has had what can only be
described as 'game addiction'... first to Runescape, then
Pirates of the Caribbean and recently he was showing
signs with a new online game called Eve. I had to put a
stop to the most recent when I saw that he was beginning
to neglect his school work.

I have all my computers in one central location and there
are no doors to close. I have *generally* been okay with
letting him play, they are all role playing and relatively low
on the violence meter and his friends play as well, but just
watching him and his reactions to when he cannot play is scary! Its easy to know his "currency" and when he is
punished, this is the thing that gets taken away first.

by jamesrl

Runescape (my wife and daughters play) and other MMORPG have much more chat going on, and more potential for friendships etc.

COD4 is a FPS - unless you compete as a team(which I have done) it isn't social.

James

by tink!

I was addicted to it for a while until I became thoroughly frustrated with how long it took to get stats up. No matter how high I got my stats up, there was always somebody much higher ready to pounce and PK me. Plus it was rather boring not having any quests to do.

by tink!

Pretty cool. I best stay off things like that as I already have problem enough staying off the computer (although my lastest addiction besides Pirates is games you can download from yahoo and play for free with intermittent ads).

I've used Teamspeak all of one time. It was being used to help run a blockade (in Pirates) I was helping out. I must say it's interesting to put real live voices to the characters.

by jamesrl

The most fun is when some of my clanmates are on the other side. I can hear them strategize and try and ruin their plans, I hear them laugh when I take them out or when they do something dumb like flying into a tree. BF2 tracks stats on everything, and for a while my worst enemy and favorite victim were both clanmates.

But having said that, most clans aren't as tight and most BF2 players aren't as team oriented. I played COD4 rarely online, and it seemed even less team oriented.

James

by jdclyde

it takes a powerful character to build powerful characters. If you don't have a group working together, it is slow and hard, taking away much of the pleasure of the game.

Playing D2, I could "grush" you to level 60 in a few hours. On your own, it would take weeks if you just quest and level on your own.

also, it takes the godly character to find godly items, and in D2xpac, the gear makes the character. Don't have just the right combination of gear, it doesn't matter how you applied your stats or how many you have.

Bummed out because one of my best on-line friends just dropped out to play WoW while he waits for D3 to come out.

by jamesrl

Though they share one account, they can have different charecters, they just can't play at the same time.

My wife is powerful enough to laugh at most PK attempts. She has had her account hacked as a result though.

James

by cupcake

My son and his buddies played the free version, until like
you, they got bored with the lack of challenge and
limitations. For his last birthday, one of the boys gave my
son a 'month's subscription' and so at that point they
were all on the paid version.

The free version is like the pusher in the school yard...
they get you hooked on the free stuff and then you find
you have to pay the monthly fee to really enjoy playing.

I should realize that that's the time to pull the plug!

by tink!

Unfortunately this method is being used everywhere now. Games like this where you can join and do limited amount of things before needing to pay, as well as the 1-player games that allow you to play for an hour before buying the game.

My new thing is downloading older games from Yahoo - they let you play the full version for free - just have to put up with a 30 second ad about every 10 minutes.

My youngest likes Toontown, but asks now and then if he can get the subscription. I say no way to Toontown. $10 a month is too much for a game.

My girls ask about Furcadia - that one I might do for Xmas. Only because it's a ONE-TIME fee of like $10 and that's lifetime subscription.

by jdclyde

$15 a month is stupid for a single person to play a single game. Screw that.

I opted for the mslive for the xbox instead. Less than that, multi people can play, and it works with EVERY game on the system, not just that one.

From what I hear, D3 is going to be the same monthly format, and I don't see that happening in my world short of winning the lottery that I never play.....

by oz_media

As I think I've told you before, my neice (when 17) was lured away by a man in his early 20's. She had a happy home life and was popular in school, but this guy convinced her he was the answer she needed.

After 2 years she was located but had decided to stay with him at that time, since then (about 3 years ago) nobody has since heard from her.

As for COD4, incredible game but WAAAAAAY too short with the included chapters. I tried a bit of online gaming with it but found that unless you build yuor own team and games, it can be pretty stupid and seemingly dominated by idiots who didn't get to be dungeon master when they played D&D as kids, so they like to play God online.

Have you tried Band of Brothers - Hell's Highway yet? Currently workign through it myself and I find it WAAAAAY better than COD, which until recently was the best of its genre in my books. But BOB is light years ahead of COD with the team control, AI and gameplay.

Well worth your time, if you are into squad bases FPS games, James.

by jamesrl

Battlefield is not as exciting graphically as newer games like COD4, but has better more balanced online play, big maps, lots of variety. Some maps are infantry only, some have tanks, jets, helos etc.

I whipped through COD4 on single player pretty quick since I've played the previous ones. The problem with those games is you feel like you are on rails.

My problem with COD4 multiplayer is that its a total twitch fest. Its all about who has the fastest reaction time. There is little stealth or tactics. Being older and slower, I like to use cunning and planning and experience to overcome.

I'm on Battlefield for now, may see if there is a donwloadable demo for band of brothers.

James

by oz_media

Don't know if you torrent but its a good way to at least check out the game and see if you want to buy it.

Sorry I said Band of Brothers (my favorite war seies) and its actually Brothers in Arms. The storyline follows the same 501st as in Band of Brothers and even has a red head (who looks like Major Winters) in it. Col.Sink uses the voice of Dale Dye, who is a long time combat trainer for actors in war movies, you'll recognize his gravelly bark right away.

A truly cinematic masterpiece form UBIsoft, even better than the first one.

HOMEPAGE: http://brothersinarmsgame.us.ubi.com/

RLSLOG NFO:
http://www.rlslog.net/brothers-in-arms-hells-highway-reloaded/

TORRENT: http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4433212/Brothers.in.Arms.Hells.Highway-RELOADED

by michael jay

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=f0ee0f84-2e80-46db-a1f7-1709c9a050a0

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